World n brief: 7.3 quake kills one, triggers tsunamis

A strong earthquake struck Japan early today, killing at least one person, violently shaking buildings and triggering two very small tsunamis that hit the coast, officials and media reports said.

The quake hit shortly before 10 a.m. off the north coast of Ishikawa prefecture, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said. It had a preliminary magnitude of 7.1. A small tsunami of 6 inches hit shore around 10:18 a.m., public broadcaster NHK said. A second of similar size hit minutes later down the coast.

Television footage from the quake zone showed buildings shaking violently for about 30 seconds.

NHK reported one person died and 40 were injured.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the earthquake was 225 miles northwest of Tokyo. The USGS gave a preliminary magnitude of 7.3.

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Key group rejects power-sharing date

Northern Ireland’s main Protestant party on Saturday rejected a British deadline to share power with Catholics, officials said, launching a showdown that could end in the collapse of the territory’s legislature.

More than 100 officials from Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party voted overwhelmingly to reject Britain’s long-held demand for a 12-member administration to be formed and receive powers by Monday, according to officials in both the party and the British government, speaking anonymously because negotiations between the two sides were continuing.

Britain insists the Northern Ireland Assembly will be shut down immediately in favor of intensified Irish government involvement in the British territory if the Monday deadline is missed.

Taipei, Taiwan

Butterfly migration will close highway

Taiwan will cordon off part of a highway to create a safe passage for a massive seasonal butterfly migration in the coming days, an official said Saturday.

The milkweed butterflies – which are indigenous to the island off China and have distinct white dots on purple brown wings – migrate in late March from southern Taiwan to the north, where they lay eggs and die. The young butterflies then fly south every November to a warm mountain valley near the southern city of Kaohsiung to escape the winter cold in the north.

Conservationists say Taiwan has about 2 million milkweed butterflies.

To protect the migrating butterflies, a 600-yard stretch of highway in southern Taiwan’s Yunlin County will be sealed off in the coming days as the migration peaks.